Caring for Rose Anemones the right way

Cover those power head and filter intakes!
 

I was a newbie once also and learned my lesson the hard
way about covering the intakes of filters.
Here is one that I lost due to being sucked up into one.
Most people don't think there is much suction going up
these intakes but if you take a piece of Jell-O and put on the intake ,

well lets just say that it isn't pretty.
Your anemone is like a chunk of Jell-O, same consistency almost.
If you want to see what it can do, try it with your filter
in the sink and the intake in a pitcher, add a square of Jell-O
and watch what happens.

Yuck!

11-11-09

Here is a perfect example as to why to cover filter intakes.

This is one of my new splits in the 75 gallon that traveled across the tank and ended up at the bottom of the filter intake.

She was never hurt and stayed there for about 3 weeks before moving back to the "herd" of  Anemones.

Below are two Anemones that where sucked into the power intake.

The above Rose did not survive.

 

This poor little fellow was sucked into the filter intake,
unfortunately it did not  survived, but I have had several that did .
 If you have a BTA stuck in an intake of the power head or filter,
do NOT attempt to pull it out, turn off the filter immediately and leave
 the Rose to back out on its own.
 Sometimes they can and sometimes they can't, depending on how deep into the intake they are.

If they are really wedged in it you will have to forcibly remove it from the intake.
It is best to do this outside of the tank. If it comes apart you will have a mess in your tank.
 Try to do as little damage as possible , if you damage it to much it will not survive.
 

 It is best to let it back out as much as it can on its own first, then remove it if you can.

He will be really torn up, loss of tentacles and loss of foot is common.
 

 

Covering the intakes

Use this sponge like item to cover the intakes of most power heads .

The intake for a Skimmer must also be covered.

It looks small but has tremendous suction.

They can be found at most fish stores. It is a black material that will unfortunately clog easily if you overfeed your tank and must be cleaned often.
 Attach it with a rubber band to the power head to keep it snug and secure. Using the wide rubber band is best as it will cover the very bottom of the intake and keep the  little Brat's out of it.
One major problem I have encountered with this material is it grows algae on it fast and cuts the flow  to the pump
so that you have almost no flow after a short while.

So cleaning once a week in clean water will keep it fresh and ready to do its job.

(Note) I no longer use these powerheads as they are old news now. I love the new ones much better

and I do not cover them.(Hydor Koralia powerheads).

In this picture you can see the Koralia on the back wall of the tank, Directly over the Anemones.

 

 

I have never had an Anemone sucked into one even though they have gotten close enough

to be sucked in. But I do watch closely if I have an Anemone on the move.

But it almost never happens with big Anemones. Just small splits or buds.

 

For filter intakes

This white plastic material can be purchased at most craft stores  or WalMart and is cheap.
 From .59 to 1.15 in some places.

They come in many different colors but I prefer the white.
May try blue though to match the back of my 125. But for now, white will do.

 It can be rolled and placed around any intake filter and then cut to run to the bottom of your
tank for maximum protection of anything in your tank, even snails can’t get through it.
Be sure to only roll it one time, do not make several rolls out of it as that will cause it to
really cut the suction going through the holes.

Here is mine in my 75 gallon tank. It has been on the intake of my Aquaclear

since I bought the tank a year ago
just a little toothbrush to clean it up and I put it back on.

Anemones can actually live on this material while the filter is running

and will not be sucked in.

It works really great.

 

Here is a picture of the one I have covering the intake in my 125, it goes all the way to the sand
bed and is secured with large rubber bands . I have tightened the rubber bands to fit the intake

more tightly and to look better.

I would love to find a blue colored cover but they don't make them.

 They aren't the prettiest but they are the best thing I have found that are
 easy to keep clean, just slip it off over the bottom of the intake and run
 it through the dishwasher or hand scrub. I soak them in one gallon water with 3 tablespoons of bleach.
 Most objects in the water column will go through it but large items won't such as
 loose floating Caulerpa or bubble algae.

---

Seio powerheads.

 

I have  experienced  an intake mauling of one of  my dear Roses after a split.

I always keep the Seio's covered on the intakes but a large Turbo snail got up on it and
 

dislodged the cover and of course the traveling  Anemone found it.

I took pictures of it for you to see.

This is when it was still inside of the power filter, it was removed from the tank

and sat in a bucket of tank water to see if it could get itself out.

It finally did after many tense hours (on my part) but was beaten up and torn horribly.

 

And after it released itself and a few days later in a quarantine tank.

You can see that the mouth has not formed yet. Tentacles beat up pretty badly from its encounter

with the Seio also but is alive and healing.

 

This is how I cover the intakes on the Seio's

I cut the same material as I use on the external filter intake, cut them long enough to

go all of the way around the intake slats on the Seio. Cut them as wide as they need to be to

completely cover the intake width. I use Electrician ties to hold them on and they last a long time

as apposed to rubber bands that only last a few weeks under saltwater.

They are fairly easy to remove for cleaning or replacing. (as my snail found out)

Or cut a whole sheet into the same size strips and replace as they get dirty.

I have not found a significant reduction in flow from the powerheads after covering them

so that has not been a problem.

Cut off excess tie to the base  so that nothing hangs out. It is unsightly enough without a 6" tie hanging
in the water

For external filter intakes.
 

I use Electrician's ties to keep them rolled around the filter intakes.

They are then just slid up over the intake and run down to the substrate in the tank

Different colors for sale for $3.00 a sheet which includes shipping.

Partial sheets available also for anyone that can't find them.
(All blue is sold) white available.

Now go cover those intakes!

Something that happened a few weeks ago.

I had turned off this power head when this little bud started moving around the tank.

Here is where she ended up, whew.

I very seldom have Anemones move around in my tanks and this was a surprise when I saw her walking across the back of the tank.

So I kept watching her and found she was heading for a powerhead so I  turned it off and here is where the little miss landed.

She stayed there  for about 2 weeks then went down into the rocks.

So always, look around your tank for anything that is happening that might pose a threat to itself of others.